


Castaway

by celli



Category: American Idol RPF, Witch Mountain Series - All Media Types
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Book/Movie Fusion, Chromatic Character, Community: disneycookleta, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-09
Updated: 2011-12-09
Packaged: 2017-10-27 03:26:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/291127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celli/pseuds/celli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Archie's a musical, magic alien with amnesia; Cook's trying to solve a mystery, save the world, and not fall in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Castaway

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2011 Disney Cookleta challenge on LJ.
> 
> Thanks to [](http://cincodemaygirl.livejournal.com/profile)[**cincodemaygirl**](http://cincodemaygirl.livejournal.com/) , [](http://shoshannagold.livejournal.com/profile)[**shoshannagold**](http://shoshannagold.livejournal.com/) , and [](http://slodwick.livejournal.com/profile)[**slodwick**](http://slodwick.livejournal.com/) for the betas. And all my love to watersword for brainstorming and encouragement.

_“We know the kind of place it is. It’s full of magic and music – for that’s the only kind of place we could have come from. So why wouldn’t we have to find it sort of magically?”_

 _\--Escape to Witch Mountain, Alexander Key_

This is what he remembered: running, running as hard as he could for as long as he could. Knowing he was being pursued despite the dead silence all around him, broken only by his feet pounding on the sand and his breath panting into the air. Something pushing him, the mental image of angry dogs, a sense of overwhelming fear. A voice in his head, growing fainter even though he tried to run to it. _Archie. Archie, where are you? I can’t find you!_

This is what he didn’t remember: who was chasing him, and why. Where he was trying to go; where or when he had started running. The name of the girl calling to him. Who he was, besides Archie, besides lost.

When his legs gave out from under him and he collapsed on the sand, he couldn’t do anything but crawl to the nearest rock and huddle next to it, hoping he could find his breath and his feet again before he was found. Sleep hit him like a wave, and he went under still fighting.

***

David Cook always went for his morning run by the beach for two reasons. One, because after nearly half his life, living on the edge of the Pacific was still a fucking miracle, and he never got tired of running between the sun and the sea. And two, because if he got out there early enough, he could find the kids who still thought sleeping on the beach was a good idea and get them to safety before the Santa Monica police came along and treated them to some time in the system.

As a veteran of the system himself, David had better plans for the kids like him.

There was a particularly popular rock about a half mile up from the pier. He’d recovered a number of teenagers (and a few pre-teens, which never failed to make his heart stop) from the leeward side of it over the years. And yep, there was a dark head poking out from it as he approached it. David mentally assigned himself an extra mile or two tomorrow and slowed his pace as he approached the rock. Spraying sand all over someone in their sleep was not the best introduction.

“Hey,” he said, dropping to one knee beside the sleeping form. “Hey, you okay?”

The kid was absolutely filthy, streaked in what looked--and smelled--like day-old sweat and sand. He looked to be in his early twenties, which might or might not be true. He was wearing jeans and tennis shoes with no label David could see and a blank grey sweatshirt, nothing to clue David in to his origins or how long he’d been sleeping places like the beach.

He put a gentle, gentle hand on the kid’s shoulder, and he shot up like he’d been pulled by strings, his eyes popping open. David reached out to grab him before he brained himself on the rock.

“Whoa, hang on,” he said. “Everything’s okay. You’re safe.”

The kid fixed him with wide brown eyes. “You have to help me,” he said, his voice hoarse and just slightly accented--David couldn’t place it. “They’re coming. I have to find her.”

“Her? Who?” David asked, but the kid’s eyes went unfocused and he slumped forward, head whacking painfully off David’s collarbone. “Ow. Um, okay.” David looked around and couldn’t see anyone, but--better safe than sorry. David dragged them both to their feet.

“Help,” the kid said again, more faintly.

“I’ve got you,” David said, half-carrying him towards the path back to his car. “Hang in there. I’ll help you.”

***

Anthem House was not really a house, more of a repurposed storefront in a questionably zoned area. David had plans for a real house, and bedrooms with walls not made out of plywood, and fancy things like desks and lamps and outlets, but first things first, and not many kids complained about sleeping in a cot with fluorescent lighting coming through the cracks in the dividers.

David led the kid in past the makeshift food pantry in the front, the collection of couches where some of the early risers were already hanging out, and to the thank-god-it-was-a-hair-salon back bathroom that they had added a shower to in blatant violation of several construction codes. He got a collection of curious looks along the way, but a zoned-out kid covered in sand was sadly not an unusual sight around here, so nobody stopped him.

“Hey,” he said as he opened the bathroom door. “Can you get out of these okay? I’ve got some other stuff you can wear until we wash these.” Or toss them--they were in pretty bad shape.

The kid blinked at him a couple of times. He didn’t seem high, and David had a pretty good eye for it, but maybe he was injured? Andy would know the signs of a concussion. Just as David started to turn and yell for him, though, the kid said, “Where am I?”

“You’re at Anthem House,” David said. “I’m David Cook. We’re going to take care of you.” The kid blinked at him some more, and David realized he had a death grip on his sleeve. He opened his hand and backed away a step. “Are you okay to clean up on your own? You can lean on the shower wall, but we can have someone here if--fuck.” Water was bursting out of the showerhead, even though the handle was a good ten feet away from either of them. If this was another busted pipe, he was going to be in serious trouble from the plumber. He brought his attention back to the kid, who looked a little frightened at this point. “Sorry. Um, the shower should still be okay. We’ll fix it later.”

“Okay,” the kid parroted back to him, and David smiled down at him.

“What’s your name, kiddo?”

It took a long time for an answer. David watched the kid’s eyes go wide, then shut tight. “Archie,” he said finally, and David nodded. Never question the name a kid gave--one of their primary rules.

“Nice to meet you, Archie. I’ll go get those clothes.”

Archie took a couple of steps towards the still-running shower, working his way clumsily out of his shirt, and David noticed two things: one, that Archie had a tattoo on his shoulder, some kind of double star in bright blue and yellow, which was about the last thing David would have expected, and two, under the tattoo was solid muscle. The kid probably was in his twenties. And solidly built under the baggy clothes. And a visitor to Anthem House and out of freaking bounds. David whipped around and headed for the door, wishing he’d done it just a few seconds earlier.

***

Archie stood longer under the shower than he realized, trying to hear the voice from last night again. He couldn't even put a name to the voice. It was female, and someone he loved, but wouldn't he know her name if it was someone he loved? It made his head hurt. He grabbed at his hair in frustration - and then jumped back as the water turned ice cold on him.

He put a hand up, and the water turned off, as abruptly as it had turned on earlier.

"Did I--?" he asked the empty bathroom. He stared at the handle, but it didn't move. He reached out very gingerly and turned it. The water came back on, still cold.

Archie finished washing quickly, shivering under the chill, and turned the handle back off. He saw a towel and some clothes sitting just inside the door, as though someone had dropped them in without looking. Archie squished his way over there, dried off, and dressed. He stopped in the middle of pulling his shirt on to frown at the double star on his shoulder. Was that supposed to mean something? He didn't know. It was becoming increasingly clear that Archie didn't know a lot of things he was supposed to know. The panic that had never really left him started clawing at his stomach again, and he hurried through the rest of dressing and made his way out into the place David Cook had called Anthem House.

It felt like everyone was staring at him, and he hunched down into the collar of his T-shirt. "Um, there was--David?" he asked the person nearest him, a girl a few years younger than him with long black hair.

"He's in the kitchen, I think, talking with the band." Archie couldn't really figure out why a band would be in the kitchen, and the girl laughed at his expression. "You'll get the hang of it, just go that way."

"The band. In the kitchen," Archie mumbled to himself as he walked down the hall. "Okay." Maybe that would make sense to someone not as messed up as him. He did sort of peek around the corner before he went in, though, and didn't see a drum set or anything. Just a bunch of guys with various kinds of long hair and a lot of visible tattoos, sitting at a table and eating eggs while David stood at the stove with a pan. He was currently waving it threateningly at one of the guys, the one with the most things pierced on his face, and laughing. The whole kitchen looked jumbled and like nothing belonged where it was, but at the same time everyone in it looked...happy. Archie caught himself making a soft sigh, which he swallowed as David turned around and caught him peeking.

"Archie! You look a ton better. Are you hungry?"

Archie blinked and looked down at his stomach. "I...think so?"

***

The bunch of guys were Neal, Monty, Andy, and Kyle, and they were an actual musical band--David's band. They were also really loud, which was kind of comforting to Archie. He let them talk around him while he worked his way through his scrambled eggs and toast. "This is the best food ever," he mumbled halfway through his second helping.

"I'm pretty sure that's not true, but thank you," David said, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled. He settled down in the seat next to Archie's. "When's the last time you ate?"

He froze with the fork halfway to his mouth. "Um."

The noise level dimmed a bit as they all looked at him. The big, quiet guy--Monty--leaned forward. "You don't have to tell us," he said gently. "It gets confusing if you lie, but you can just tell us not to ask questions and we won't."

"No, I just - I don't remember."

"When you ate?" David asked. "Christ, kid, how long have you been on the run like this?"

The back of his neck hurt; Archie set his fork down carefully and rubbed at the ache. "I kind of don't remember anything until you woke me up this morning."

That killed all sound in the room except the sizzle of bacon on the stove. Archie kept his eyes on the table. He flinched when David put a hand on his shoulder. David hesitated but left it there.

"Okay," he said, leaning in so Archie could feel the warmth of his body next to his. "Is 'kind of' not remembering like--nothing? Or are things fuzzy? Walk me through it."

"I was running, and there was--it's probably just a dream."

"How do you know your name is Archie?" Kyle asked suddenly.

"I--there was a voice--" _In my head_ was probably going to sound like a lie, and it didn't make sense anyway. He bent his head further, trying to remember, and then doubled over, knocking into the table hard enough to rattle the dishes, as the ache on the back of his neck turned into a sharp stabbing pain. He clutched at his neck and tried not to scream, but it was like his whole brain was on fire.

When it cleared enough that he could see straight, he was on the couch in the living room. David's face, pale and tight, was just on the edge of his vision. He put out a wobbly hand and rested it against David's neck. "Are you okay?"

David's laugh wasn't a happy one. "Am _I_ okay? You keeled over and started speaking in tongues. What the hell, Archie." He rested his head on Archie's shoulder, and Archie wanted nothing more than to curl around him and pretend none of this was happening. He couldn't--his head was still throbbing, and he felt a rush of urgency every time he thought about the voice in his head--but he took a minute to close his eyes and run his fingers through David's hair. Just a minute.

***

David was going to get all kinds of shit for freaking out over this kid and then clinging to him like he was a teddy bear, but he couldn't make himself let go.

"Huh," Andy said from the chair behind David.

David lifted his head reluctantly and turned, keeping one hand splayed across Archie's shoulder. "Huh what?"

Andy tapped the top of the laptop he was staring at. "I've been trying to figure out some of the things our young man here said when he was having his out of body experience or whatever it was."

"That was creepy, by the way," Kyle said from where he and Monty were perched in kitchen chairs in the doorway. They must have shooed the kids out at some point; David could hear them clattering around in the kitchen, and Neal talking with them. "I swear, stuff levitated off the table."

"He _fell_ on it," Andy said impatiently. Kyle glared at him and subsided.

"Anyway?" David gestured at Andy.

"Oh, right. He said something that sounded like _cosan dune_ , so I've been googling every spelling of it I can think. And voila!" He turned the laptop around. There was a Google Maps dot on top of a--was that a mountain road? " _Cosán Duine Longbhriste_ ," Any said triumphantly. "Which, according to what may or may not be a good translator, is like 'Castaway Road.'"

"Castaway?" Archie asked, his voice still rough.

"Well, technically I guess 'shipwrecked,' Andy said. "But I don't know how you get shipwrecked on Witch Mountain in Utah."

Archie made a pained noise again and clutched at his neck. David whipped around. "Archie?"

"I think I know that," Archie gasped between harsh breaths. "But it hurts when I--"

A book fell off a table next to Kyle, who swore and jerked away.

"Let me--hey, someone get an icepack," David said, gently prying Archie's hand away from his neck. "Stop digging at it, Archie, it's only going to--fuck."

"What?" three voices asked.

David peered closer. "Is that a needle mark?" Oh, God.

Archie's eyes were wide. "What happened to me?"

***

Even with the panic and the pain, Archie could hardly keep his eyes open after a while. Andy was going on and on about this mountain, Kyle was looking at Archie like he might hit him, and the kids of Anthem House kept trying to get back in the living room and stare at Archie. It was all just too much. David, at least, was a solid presence next to him, and after a while he bundled Archie off to his living space, a cramped room next to the band's rehearsal space. Archie fell asleep, finally, with the promised icepack numbing the pain along his neck and David cross-legged on the bed next to him holding his hand.

When he woke up, he was alone, it was getting dark out, and there was muffled music coming through the wall. He stretched. His head was clear for the first time, and when he tried to think about the girl whose voice he'd heard, or Witch Mountain, it didn't hurt, although he still couldn't remember anything new.

Someone was singing, quietly enough that Archie couldn't make out the words. He climbed out of David's bed and made his way on still-shaky legs to the doorway.

It was David. He was playing an acoustic guitar and singing something about stars burning out, which sent a shiver down Archie's spine. His voice was--it made Archie uncomfortable, and itchy in his own skin, but when David saw him standing there and stopped singing, he said, "No, don't stop."

"Did we wake you up?" David asked.

"I don't think so. That sounded good."

He thought David might be blushing. "Thanks. I, um, wrote it."

"Cook's the best," Neal said. "Which is good because so are we. We're going to go platinum someday."

"And then we're building a real Anthem House, with rooms and doors and a _bathtub_ ," Kyle said.

Neal rolled his eyes. "You just want someplace to wash your flowing locks that isn't the sink in your crappy apartment."

"Just because you think showers are for every other Thursday--"

Archie looked away from their argument and back to David, who still looked a little shy. "Really, you're great," he said.

"Thanks," David said. He gestured to the seat by the keyboard. "Hey, sit down, you still look a little out of it."

"I feel better," Archie said, but sat anyway. He poked at a couple of the keys, listening to the notes hit the air. The bandmates were arguing about--nose piercings?--and only David was paying any attention. Archie played another note, and another, and suddenly there was this melody in his head, and in the air. He looked at his hands as though they belonged to someone else. He didn't know his last name, or where he was from, or what he'd had for breakfast yesterday, but--"I can play," he said breathlessly.

"Keep going," David said, grinning over at him. Archie looked down and watched as much as heard the song. It filled his head, turning off all the worries and questions, and making him feel lighter than air.

"Holy shit!" Kyle shouted.

The song ended with a clash of keys, and Archie jerked his head up as a handful of sheet music, a music stand, and a lone cymbal dropped from where they had been hanging in mid-air and crashed to the ground.

"Holy _shit_ ," Kyle said again, a little quieter. "What just happened?"

Archie backed up against the wall, holding his hands out in front of them. They seemed even more alien to him now. "I did that. How did I do that?"

***

"I'm starting to believe you about the Witch Mountain thing," Kyle told Andy.

"Not _helping_ ," David said when Archie paled and disappeared back into the bedroom. He followed him in.

Archie was sitting on the bed, his hand clenched together in front of him. David sat down next to him and, when Archie hunched further into himself, went on instinct and turned to put both arms around him.

"I think you're supposed to tell me everything's going to be okay," Archie said, his voice muffled against David's shoulder.

"Um," David said, and Archie laughed, God love him.

He tilted his head up. "I can't figure out what to do next."

"We'll work out a plan. Andy is probably already out there Googling like crazy, and maybe we can find someone who knows more about this Witch Mountain place." Archie stiffened a little bit at the name.

"I don't know what I can do, or how I can do it. What if I hurt somebody? I shouldn't stay here, with the kids and, and you--"

"Hey." David put his hand over Archie's. "You're not going to hurt us. I trust you."

"You might be the crazy one," Archie said. David laughed and rubbed his thumb over the back of Archie's hand. Archie loosened his death grip on his own hands and turned one so he and David were palm-to-palm in an odd approximation of a handshake. David had a sudden shock of awareness, of Archie's warmth and closeness and of the attraction he'd been fighting since--was it just this morning?

He met Archie's eyes, which was probably a mistake, because even in the dim light of the room he could see the same stunned longing on Archie's face. He lifted his free hand from Archie's shoulders and brushed his thumb along Archie's jawline.

"I think we might both be out of our minds," he said. Archie caught the last word with a kiss, and leaned into him, his hands still wrapped around David's in his lap.

David closed his eyes and kissed back. He could hear Archie's breath hitch at the back of his throat. It was soft and sweet, and then Archie's mouth opened against his, and David found himself shifting against him, trying to get closer. Archie murmured something incoherent, and his hands closed tighter around David's.

"Whoa."

Archie jerked back, but David dropped his hand to his back and held him there. "Go away, Neal."

"Would love to. Can't."

"What?" David asked, turning to the door. Neal pushed it open so he could see Jordin, one of the longer-term residents of Anthem House, standing behind him. She looked frantic. He turned back to Archie. "I'll be right back," he said, and let himself go back for one last kiss before heading for the door.

"Don't even," he said as he passed Neal. "This isn't even the weirdest thing that's happened today."

"Close enough," Neal said, but both of them turned their attention to Jordin, who was bouncing on her heels.

"There's guys here," she said. "I think some of them have guns. They're asking about Archie."

***

Archie was a little shocked at how fast he and David got out of there. It seemed like one minute they were hearing banging on the door to David's rooms, and the next he was on the other side of Anthem House, getting rushed into David's car while the men (and their _guns_ , he couldn't breathe when he thought about it) were clustered at the front door.

"Do you have to do that a lot?"

David looked over at him. They were in a park about five miles from Anthem House, tucked into a bench by the parking lot. David had the car keys in one hand and his phone in the other and was checking it compulsively. Other than a vague "no harm, chill and wait" message from Andy, they'd heard nothing for an hour. It was night now, and a little chilly, but Archie ignored it and kept his eyes on David's worried face. He'd spent way too much time worrying David, and they hadn't even known each other a day yet.

"Sometimes," David said. "Every once in a while an abusive parent tracks a kid down. Usually one of us can talk our way out of it, or one of the bigger guys can intimidate them, but we have to be prepared for anything."

"How did you end up taking care of these kids?" He wanted to keep David talking so he wasn't worrying about the phone so much, but Archie also just really wanted to know who David was, how he'd become the kind of person who built a house for kids in an old store and talked about them with that light in his eyes, like he'd punch anyone who hurt them.

"I was those kids," David said simply.

Archie blinked at him. "Did your parents--"

"Oh, no! No, they were fine." Archie carefully folded his hands in his lap; the thought of David getting hurt made him want to do something, somehow. "I mean, they got divorced, and I was emo, but." He shrugged. "It wasn't really them. I wanted to be a rock star, and they wanted me to go to high school, and I had this stupid idea that I could hop a bus to LA with my guitar and it would be like a movie or something."

"Was it pretty awful?" Archie asked when David dropped his eyes back to his phone.

"I don't recommend it," David said, his voice as sharp as Archie had heard it. "I ended up--after I ran away from the cops a couple of times and some bad shit on the streets a couple more times, I gave up and called home. My poor mom," he finished, shaking his head.

Archie reached out carefully and put a hand on David's shoulder. "Did you go home?"

"I did. Which, for me, was the right thing to do. But the second I turned 18, I came back. It took three years to start making enough on gigs to feed myself, and the guys and I only put together enough to start Anthem House year before last. They've all been in and around this stuff too. I was really lucky to find them."

"I think the kids there are lucky you found _them_."

David shrugged a shoulder. "I can do more. We have plans. Thank you," he said, and Archie just stared at him. "For trying to distract me."

"Did it help?" Archie asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, a little."

Archie took a deep breath and leaned closer. "Is there any other way I could--"

David's phone rang. "Oh, for fuck's sake," David said. "Hold that thought, okay?" He popped up to answer it, and Archie went back to keeping his hands together where he could see them.

***

David's cell phone showed nearly midnight by the time he saw Andy's old beater pull in next to his car. Andy jumped out and into the back seat of David's car.

"They're still there," Andy said before David could even ask. "They think they're being subtle, but this is like spy-movie surveillance going on out there. Except a bad spy movie, because they're not trying to blend in at all."

"Are you sure they didn't follow you?" David asked.

"Honestly? No."

"Oh, shit," David said. He was pretty sure Archie was holding his breath. "We've got to get Archie out of here." Andy nodded.

"Where am I supposed to go?" Archie asked.

"Witch Mountain, man," Andy said.

Archie looked at David. David reached out where Andy couldn't see to grab his hand. "I think we've got to try. Don't you?"

"We? The kids--"

"I think the guys and I can keep them from taking over the asylum for a couple of days at least," Andy said. "Especially with spies outside their windows. Nobody will go to bed, they keep staring at them."

"All right." Archie took a deep breath. "All right."

"Right on," Andy said, and gave Archie a friendly slap on the shoulder. "I've got a couple of bags packed for you two, some money from the emergency fund, and maps. It'll probably take you a couple of days if you try not to leave too much of a trail."

"Andy maybe has experience in these matters," David told Archie, who actually cracked a small smile.

"I hate to say this, but give me your phone," Andy said. "Let's just be paranoid here, okay? Call me when you get there. We'll try to look innocent til then."

"Good luck with _that_ ," David said.

Andy grinned. "Or at least guilty in the wrong ways."

The phone went in Andy's car; the bags went in David's; and a careful smudging of dirt went on David's license plates.

"In a perfect world we'd change them out, but you need to get going," Andy said, brushing his hands off on his jeans. "Stay safe."

"Take care of the kids," David said. "Don't let them steal too many hubcaps from the spy cars."

Andy grinned, slapped him on the back, and ruffled a hand over Archie's hair. And then he was gone.

"Okay," David said. He took a deep breath. "Ready to hit the road?"

"Sure," Archie said. He had his hands jammed in the pockets of his jeans, David noticed. He reached over and kissed Archie, and felt him relax a bit.

***

"Can you drive?" David asked as they set off into the night.

Archie looked down at his hands. "I don't know. Plus, I might make it fly or something."

"Right." David smiled over at him. "We won't chance it. I know a place we can stay out of sight tonight."

"You know a lot of sneaky stuff," Archie said. "Um, I didn't mean it that--"

David was laughing, maybe a little more than he should. "No, you're right. I'm not so good at following the rules. I could argue you're not either, though," he said, wiggling his hand around in the air. "I'm pretty sure gravity is an important rule."

"How come you're not scared of me?" Archie asked. " _I'm_ scared of me."

David reached out and took Archie's hand, like he had after Archie made all the music stuff levitate. "Dunno," he said. "Maybe because you use music to do it."

For the first time, Archie thought about it without total panic. "It is kind of neat, isn't it?"

David's thumb rubbed over Archie's. "I think so."

They got six restless hours of sleep in the parking lot of a closed Jack in the Box. The back seat would have been uncomfortable for even one of them, but they wrapped around each other and dozed under the thin blanket Andy had thrown in, waking up to lie still and tense every time a car drove by too close or a siren went off in the distance.

When they started off in the early morning, David still looked worn around the edges, but his smile was just as bright and he still held Archie's hand whenever he had a chance. They both relaxed a bit as they crossed the border from California into Nevada, far to the north and away from the major highways.

"We can do Vegas another time," David said breezily, and told Archie stories about performing in small, dingy venues there with the band.

Archie could see Las Vegas in his head when he thought about it, bright and pretty like a movie set, and wondered if he'd ever been there. He tried to imagine walking the streets of it with David, and his cheeks went warm at the idea for some reason.

The worry receded a little as they headed west. Archie asked David questions about his music, and the kids, and the other members of the band. They talked about the things Archie did remember. He passed an impromptu quiz on the state capitals. He couldn't think of many elements of the periodic table, but rattled off the parts of speech without even thinking about it.

"Clearly you paid more attention in school than me," David said, and Archie hugged adverbs and prepositions to himself in silent glee. He _knew_ something.

***

They found a crappy motel with no cable and a drained swimming pool, which suited David perfectly. They took his cash and his fake name without blinking. He locked and bolted the door, and hey, the trick in the movies about jamming a chair under the knob actually worked in a place this old.

"Get some sleep," he said as Archie came out of the bathroom, his hair still damp against his neck. "If we push it a little tomorrow we'll get there by noon tomorrow."

"And then what?" Archie asked.

"And then we see what we see. Sleep, kiddo." He headed off for his own shower, unsurprised when the water never got above lukewarm.

Archie was flat on his back in the room's one bed when David got out. "Oh, come on," David said. "You could at least close your eyes and pretend."

Archie just looked at him.

David turned off the lamp, climbed into the bed across from Archie, and reached across the space to rest a hand on Archie’s arm. He felt him relax just the smallest bit, so hopefully there was some eye-closing going on. David knew he needed to follow his own advice--he felt like he'd been awake for a week--but he laid there for a long time, watching headlights come and go through the paper-thin curtains and trying not to think about tomorrow. Worst-case scenario, they found nothing and were still on the run with nameless thugs after them. Best-case scenario, Archie found...something...and David went back to LA and his music and his kids. Alone.

He sighed into the pillow and made himself stop thinking.

***

Archie tried to recapture the easy conversation from the day before, but after a night dreaming about dogs and running and a voice calling his name louder and louder, he kept trailing off to stare out the window. He could feel David looking at him, and after an hour of start-and-stop conversations, David reached forward and turned on the radio.

Archie looked at the radio, and then at David, who just smiled and went back to holding Archie's hand.

The station was occasionally staticky, but Archie discovered after the first few tense minutes that the music was interesting and vaguely familiar. He listened carefully to Aerosmith, nodded along to the Eagles, and to both his surprise and David's, started singing along partway through the chorus of "Imagine."

He jolted to a halt. "Sorry!" he said. "I didn't know I knew that."

"Keep going," David said. When Archie looked at him, incredulous, he said, "I'll let you know if the car starts flying, I promise." His smile was easy, but he did actually have a tighter grip on both the steering wheel and Archie's hand than he had before.

"Just remember this was your idea," Archie said, and dove back into the song.

He got to the end with nothing levitated, and started to say something to David about it, when--

 _Archie, are you out there? Can you hear me?_

"It's her," he blurted out.

"Who's her?" David shifted his gaze to the rearview mirror.

"No, I--the girl I heard, I remembered, I can hear her." He winced even as he added, "In my head."

David's eyebrows went way up, but he said, "Okay. Not really any weirder than the rest of it. What's she, you know, saying?"

"I think she's looking for me." He closed his eyes and thought, _Can you hear me?_ as hard as he could.

 _Archie! Where are you?_

 _Who are you?_ he thought back.

There was a long pause, and then, _It's me, Allison. Your sister._

"I have a sister," he said aloud, and felt a tear slide down his cheek.

David's hand was strong and firm in his.

 _Where are you?_ he heard again.

 _We're trying to find Witch Mountain. There's men, spies or something, and they did something to me, but we--_ He thought the road and the map and David and his friends at her.

There was a longer pause this time. _Jennifer says we can't send anyone out, it might give you away._ Archie didn't know who Jennifer was or how they would be given away, but he just nodded foolishly as if Allison (his sister!) could see him. _Just keep an eye out, and hurry!_

 _Okay,_ and then the other voice was gone like a phone had hung up, and he was alone in the car with David. "We're going where we're supposed to go," he said, opening his eyes. "She says to hurry."

"Your sister?"

Archie nodded. "I have a sister," he said again, and David's eyes seemed a little bright before he blinked hard and looked back to the road.

"Let's go meet her, then."

***

The roads went from four lanes to two to something that looked like two cars could pass each other only if both drivers held their breath. According to the map, _Cosán Duine Longbhriste_ was less than a mile away.

David had both hands on the wheel to deal with the twisting roads, so he had to fight to keep the wheel when Archie grabbed his arm. "Shit, what?"

Archie pointed at the side of the road up ahead. Nearly hidden behind a tree was a sign that said _Duine Longbhriste_. And above the word, a stylized design of a double star, blue and yellow, an exact match to the tattoo on Archie's shoulder.

"Nearly there," David said around the lump in his throat.

When he looked over, Archie was rubbing his shoulder. "I guess." He looked at David. "Listen--"

The roar of a car engine behind them jerked David's attention back to the rearview mirror. A black car was closing on them. "Is that--" David started.

With a screech of metal and a jolting crash, the car rammed them from behind.

"Don't even _think_ about it," David said, and slammed on the gas.

They fishtailed a bit heading up the road. The car behind them was a bit battered but kept pace.

"Are you okay?" Archie asked breathlessly.

"So far," David said. "You watch them, tell me if they get too close?" He kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead as he took a blind corner way too fast.

"Okay," Archie said. "They're not getting any closer, but, what are they--that's a _gun_."

There was a bang and something like a ping, which David was fairly sure was a bullet hitting the trunk. He hunched down as far as he could and still watch the road, which wasn't much.

"Get down," he said. "Archie, get down!"

"Hang on." Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Archie leaning over the back seat.

"Archie!"

"I can help."

"You can get shot."

Archie kept his eyes on the car behind them, and started--he was humming. David held his breath and gunned it for the next corner.

The engine of the car behind them made a noise engines didn't make, and David looked in the rearview long enough to see the car behind them jerk off the road and bang into a tree.

"I hope they're okay," Archie said.

"I don't," David said flatly. He slowed down to a slightly less insane speed.

They had maybe a minute to breathe, and then Archie tensed again, and they heard another engine.

"Two of them," Archie said. "I don't know if I can--"

The car jerked to a halt as if someone had grabbed the front of it. David swore and grabbed for Archie, preparing to drag him out the door and into the trees.

"Wait," Archie said, tilting his head like someone was talking to him. "Allison says don't move."

"What?"

The cars roared up the mountain behind them. David met Archie's eyes and tried not to look as fucking terrified as he was.

Something shot down the mountain like a jet and passed bare inches over the windshield. David whipped his head around to see it come to a smooth stop above the black car closest to them. A man got out of the car and fired up at it; the bullet ricocheted back and buried itself in the ground just next to him. He jerked backwards and fell to the ground. The gun flew out of his hand and disappeared into the trees.

David stared. Round, faint blue glow around the bottom, _flying around in the air_. "That's a spaceship," he said faintly. He remembered Andy saying “I don't know how you get shipwrecked on Witch Mountain.” This was how, apparently.

"Would that make me a--"

"Musical, magical space alien?" David felt like the rational part of his brain had just given up and headed back down the mountain. "Why not?"

And then his car was floating in the air, and David would deny later that he screamed, but...he kind of did. The spaceship took off up the mountain, and the car floated after it.

***

The car settled gently in the middle of a green grassy meadow near the top of the mountain, and the spaceship hovered near it. Archie couldn't make himself let go of David, so they scrambled awkwardly out of the driver's door together and stood, hands joined, as a ramp slid out of the ship and two figures walked down it. One was a beautiful woman who Archie was sure he should know and maybe be a little afraid of. The other was a girl a couple years younger than him with a hesitant smile and bright red hair.

"Archie?" she said, and it echoed in his head, too.

"Allison?" he asked.

She crossed the few feet towards them and threw herself at him, and Archie let go of David to grab her in a hug.

"Allison," he said, and he closed his eyes tight. He still didn't know anything else, but he knew he was _home_.

***

David knew a family reunion when he saw one. He eased back, giving Archie and Allison room to cry on each other without getting in their way. His heart was still pounding, and it didn't help to look up and find the other woman standing next to him.

"You're wearing jeans," he said stupidly. They were really expensive looking jeans, and he wasn't going to lie, she looked really hot, but, did aliens wear jeans? Archie had been. This was...really weird.

"We live on Earth," she said, looking like she might laugh at him in a second. "I'm Jennifer."

"David," he said, and for lack of anything else to do, held out a hand to shake.

"Thank you for bringing Archie home to us."

"It's my job," he said, ignoring the lurch in his stomach. "Listen--" He told her about the needle and the amnesia and the cars and the spies.

"We'll take care of Archie," she said when he was done. Her voice turned grim. "And the gentlemen bothering you will be taken care of as well."

"Oh. Good?" he said weakly. "Thank you." He looked back over at Archie, who was leaning his forehead against his sister's and smiling.

Jennifer followed his gaze, then looked back at him. "I'll see what I can do about your car," she said, and walked away.

Allison rushed up to him. Archie followed behind, looking a little uncertain. "Thank you so much," she said. She threw her arms around him. "Thank you for saving him."

"He did most of the work," David said, hugging her back gingerly. Behind them, Jennifer was humming.

"Man, you're just like him," Allison said. David looked over at Archie. He looked confused too.

She planted a smack of a kiss on his cheek, then let go of him. "I'll be in the ship," she told Archie. "Jennifer, are you done?"

David looked behind him. The back of the car was perfect. It didn't even have the ding from when someone had backed into him in the Anthem House parking lot a couple of months ago. That was going to be interesting to explain to Kyle, who had done the backing up.

Jennifer walked past him with a nod. She leaned in and said something low in Archie's ear, then followed Allison up to the ramp.

David looked over at Archie, uncomfortably aware that Jennifer was waiting at the foot of the ramp and that Allison was probably plastered to what passed for a window on the ship. "So."

"Thank you," Archie said.

David shrugged. "For what, some scrambled eggs and a tankful of gas?"

"And saving my life."

"Well, thank you for saving mine back," David said, and Archie cracked a smile. "And, you know, showing me the secrets of the universe. This has been the most mind-blowing three days of my life."

"Mine too. I think."

David laughed, and that made it easier to step forward, to put his arms around Archie, to hold on for him for as long as he could and say in his ear, "Don't forget me when you remember everything else, okay?"

"I promise." Archie kissed David, and David thought, fuck scary alien women, and kissed him back.

Archie broke away finally, and David stepped back. "Goodbye, Archie," he said. His throat hurt.

"Goodbye," Archie said.

David stayed in the clearing until the ship had vanished overhead. His car looked small and silly in the middle of it. David felt a little small and silly, one human in the middle of all of this.

He'd get over it. Probably.

There was no sign of black cars or guys with guns as he drove back the mountain much more carefully than he'd come up. Like the meadow, and the car, and his life. No sign of Archie at all.

"Best-case scenario," he said out loud, and turned the radio on as he left the mountains and headed home.

***

In the six weeks since the thing with the magic and the music and the spaceships, David had made breakfast for about a million kids, written some really crappy lyrics, and run by the pier every single morning. He knew it was stupid, knew the guys were talking about him behind his back, and still here he was again, running towards the rock where nobody ever was.

Except today there was.

David nearly tripped over his own feet as he tried to stop. "Archie."

He looked good. David had spent far too much time trying to imagine how Archie would look when not exhausted, scared, lost, and running for his life, and he looked even better than that. Rested and smiling and confident, with his thumbs tucked into his jeans pockets and his eyes narrowed against the sun.

"Hi, David," he said, and there was a bit of an awkward pause while David tried to think of something intelligent to say. "Um--" He stuck out his hand. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. Archie James, at your service."

"You remember," David said. "You're okay." Archie's hand was warm and solid in his.

"It took some time, but yeah."

"That’s... good," David said, which sounded dumb but was better than anything else trying to come out of his mouth. Like _I think I fell in love with you in three days_. Or something.

There was another awkward pause. David made himself let go of Archie's hand. And then Archie said, "Well, I don't want to--I mean, you're running."

"No, it's fine," David said a little too quickly.

"Plus, I’m behind in class now," Archie said at the same time.

"Class? What?"

"I'm a grad student at UCLA. Music."

"Oh," David said. " _Oh_. You live here? Not on--" He gestured back in the general direction of Utah.

"Just on school breaks," Archie said.

“You live _here_ ,” David said again.

“Yes?” Archie looked really confused, right up until David grabbed him and kissed him.

"I was afraid--you didn’t seem glad to see me," Archie said a long, long time later.

"I thought you lived on a mountain, not up the freeway," David said. "I thought you were going to go back there and leave me. Again." It came out a little more nakedly honest than he had planned it to, but Archie kissed him again, so he didn't really care.

The wind off the ocean kept making him shiver, though, and when Archie finally caught on to it he grabbed his hand and started dragging him back across the sand. "Come on," he said. "I think I owe you a breakfast."

David laced their fingers together. "And then maybe you can sit in with the band later? I have some heavy furniture that needs moving."

Archie threw back his head and laughed, and then David had to stop and kiss him again, and if it took them a while to make it back to Anthem House, it was worth it.


End file.
